Cave (A course in collaborative construction and non-engineered spaces)
PLEASE OBSERVE, THIS COURSE IS NOW FULLY BOOKED!
“Cave” is an intense, hands-on, collaborative sculpture and architecture course. Initially, the participants will be constructing a monumental structure from lightweight fill blocks. Lightweight fill, or Geofoam, is a type of Styrofoam used in landscaping and road construction. The use of Geofoam in large-scale landscaping was pioneered in Norway and Sweden about 30 years ago, but is becoming common in the U.S. and elsewhere as well.
The structure will be temporary and will not disturb the ground beneath it. It should be built next to KKH on Skeppsholmen. It should measure roughly 5 x 7 x 3 meters. Once it is set up, we will start do dig and burrow into it using various tools as well as heat guns. The solid block will slowly be transformed into a spongy network of tunnels and rooms. The group of participants will have to negotiate and decide together, what type of rooms they want to construct, and accordingly what type of uses the structure can serve. These discussions will be influenced by the specific qualities of our material and our construction methods.
At the end of the seven-day course, we will host an event inside or around the structure. The nature of this event, whether it is a dinner, an exhibition, a discussion, a sleepover, or something else, is again a matter of collective decision. “Cave” will remain in place for a short time only, and will be completely dismantled by the participants afterwards. All materials will go to recycling.
“Cave” is both a spectacular public sculpture, and a hands-on exercise in collective decision-making. It combines the primal activity of digging a primitive shelter and the pre-scientific method of bricollage-construction with a contemporary reflection on communities, creative collectives and their promises and limitations. The construction process will be accompanied by ongoing seminar discussions.